An official from Azerbaijan, host of the upcoming COP-29, has expressed interest in negotiating a new fossil fuel deal. The controversial issue came up before the conference in a secretly recorded video. British news agency Reuters reported this.
According to an investigative report by the BBC, Global Witness, a non-profit organization working against corruption, formed a fake company. The company expressed interest in investing in Sokar, the national oil and gas company of Azerbaijan. They are the ones who recorded that video.
In the video, Cop-29 CEO Elnur Soltanov offers to mediate between the bogus oil and gas company EC Capital and Soccer to discuss global warming in Baku.
“We have a lot of pipeline infrastructure,” Soltanov is seen saying in the video. There are also many gas fields that can be developed.'
Reuters could not independently verify the video.
Soltanov also said that there is a lot of potential for joint ventures. Soccer Trading deals in oil and gas around the world including Asia. So it is necessary to talk to Soker about this. I would be happy to put you in touch.'
According to Global Witness, Soccer later contacted the fake company to express interest in the meeting.
Soltanov refused to comment when contacted. Also, representatives of Soccer were not immediately available for comment.
The country's Environment and Natural Resources Minister Babayev is in charge of organizing COP29. He also declined to comment to Reuters.
Almost half of Azerbaijan's economy comes from oil and gas. 90 percent of the country's exports depend on this sector.
According to some reports leaked last year by the Climate Reporting Center, the United Arab Emirates, the host country of COP28, wanted to discuss other trade deals, including gas, before the climate conference. However, the concerned persons denied these allegations.
Simon Roach, a senior official at Global Witness, said, “If an oil-rich country tries to advance its own interests a second time by hosting a climate conference, it will raise big questions about the UN and the rules of such an event.”
